The Shambles We Have Become
by September Silver
Summary: "The Lower House was not the shambles it has become." So what happened? And why had Dusk changed sides? Pre-keys. Includes my OC. You have been warned.
1. The Future We Have Foreseen

**Chapter One: The Future We Have Foreseen**

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Monday's Dawn was dead. She had been sick for a long time, being eaten away by nothing. Finally, it became too much for even a Denizen of her status to handle, and she had disappeared without a trace.

Now, this should be a bad thing. Note the word _should, _because mere seconds after her death was reported, Mister Monday had sent his Noon to inform everyone that the position of Monday's Dawn was now open. There was no grieving, no unhappiness. In fact, everyone seemed slightly _glad _that Monday's Dawn was dead, even Mister Monday himself.

At least, that was what Astrid thought. She couldn't blame them—she wasn't upset as well. After all, she had always wanted to be Monday's Dawn.

She combed her long, golden hair and took a deep breath. She had been an Elevator Operator for so long, and she thought that she could really make a difference as Monday's Dawn. It seemed that Monday's Dawn, Noon, and Dusk had their mind on something else, and it showed. She had never seen the Lower House in such a state. It was disorganized, the people were all poor, and the food was practically nonexistent.

Something needed to happen. Something like her becoming Monday's Dawn.

She took a deep breath, then found a smile from somewhere and let it spread across her face.

"Hello. My name is Astrid Scarlett, and I am here to apply for the position of Monday's Dawn. Good evening, Mister Monday. I am Astrid Scarlett, and I..."

"_The Will says I shall fail," Mister Monday frowned._

"_In what way?" The impossibly handsome man let his wings fold and retract into his back, guessing he was going to be there for a while._

_Monday's scowl grew dark. "I will have to give up the key to the Lower House. That is what it says. However, I have no intention of giving it up."_

"_You cannot defy the Will."_

"_I am a human being, and the Will is just text," Monday sighed. "Why can't I defy the Will? It should be that the Will can't defy me."_

"_That is true. However, I..."_

"_You are my Noon. You are going to help me in this. You are going to find a solution for me, because I am an important man and I have better things to do. Do you understand me?"_

_Noon paused, then nodded._

" _Now leave. I grow weary of talking."_

_KTTKKTTKKTTKKTTKKTTKKTTK_

"_Dusk?"_

"_Yes, brother?"_

_The man stepped out of the shadows inhabiting his office. His suit jacket was sprinkled with stardust, and his eyes were a silvery grey. His hair was as black as a moonless night, as if to match his tongue._

"_Monday does not like what the Will has proclaimed." Monday's Noon said._

"_When does he ever?" Dusk said in his melodious voice. __**(But isn't it supposed to be a whisper? All in good time, my dear.)**_

_Noon snarled. "You are going to help me with this, or I will do to you what we did to Dawn."_

_Dusk stretched. "I wait with bated breath."_

"_I did not come here to be mocked, brother."_

"_And yet I mock you anyway."_

_Noon slammed Dusk against the wall, but Dusk remained apathetic. "Enough tomfoolery. What do you need?"_

"_I need to know how we can somehow defy the will."_

"_Lie to him. Tell him we've fixed it somehow."_

_Noon grabbed his head, pulled it forward, and slammed it back against the wall._

"_Don't you see, brother? We can't do that. What if the the new Monday decides to appoint a new Dusk and Noon?"_

"_And you can't very well run for the position of Lord Monday, now that you've been his Noon." __**(Random rules I made up somehow.)**_

"_All right, since you don't have any bright ideas, I'm going to suggest one to you—but you'd better be the one to take care of it." He let go of Dusk, who let himself fall to the floor._

_Noon smirked and walked away, saying over his shoulder, "We imprison the Will."_

**So what did they do to Dawn? Read on, my wonderful people... Review, follow, and fave! *September signing out***


	2. The Path We Have Chosen

**Chapter Two: The Path We Have Chosen**

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**Btw, this is written by somebody who has only read Mister Monday and half of Grim Tuesday, so...**

_"How do you know that our new Dawn will agree with our plans?" Mister Monday asked._

_Monday's Noon thought for a second. "We could force her to agree, and she would not be able to work behind our backs. There are three of us, you know."_

_Monday's Dusk sighed. "I do not wish to be involved in this project, nor do I think it is wise._

_"You work for me," Monday reminded him. "And if you disobey me, I could punish you beyond what you can imagine."_

_"I'm sure. Returning to the previous topic that does not involve my untimely demise, do we need our Dawn to agree with us?"_

_"What do you mean?" the other men frowned._

_"If she is innocent, and we let her handle the public affairs, the people will be convinced that everything is fine, just as she does."_

_"A good idea," Monday said with a flick of his hand. "You may be dismissed. Come back here in half an hour, and you shall both help me choose my Dawn."_

Astrid took a deep breath and let herself up to Monday's Antechamber, where she would wait to see Mister Monday.

She smiled at nothing and curled her hands in her white dress, turning to face the wall

"Hello," she said pleasantly to the wall. "I am here to apply for the position of Monday's Dawn."

"Are you now?" a flat voice said, and she turned around to see a handsome man glaring at her. Monday's Noon. She disliked him instantly.

"Yes, I am. Am I allowed to go in?"

"You are too early. You must come back later."

She frowned at him. "Why?"

"It is the rules."

"Well, I have nothing else to do right now, and so I am going to stay here, and if you don't want me to stay here, sod off."

Noon's face contorted in anger and he grasped his sword so tightly his muscles stood out. "You. Will. Leave. Now. And you will not speak to me like that."

"He's right," said a more humorous voice. "Normally you should leave the insulting to me."

Noon moved away and Astrid could now see the second man. He was almost identical to Noon, but his eyes sparkled with wit and he sported a genuine smile.

"Let her be," he said to Noon, who kept holding his sword.

"You let ME be."

"Are we four-year-olds? No. Get out."

"You do not tell me what to do."

"I do tell you what to do. You just don't listen to me."

"Oh, I hear you all too well."

"Wonderful. So does that mean you are going to comply?"

"No."

"Lovely, just lovely. You see, my dear, this is why you should leave. Being in the same room as Noon is really not a pleasant experience."

She had to laugh a little, and Noon lurched forward to grab out at her but quickly retreated.

"I will be back shortly," he said, his voice tight. He left them there.

The man turned to her. "I am Monday's Dusk. And you?"

"Astrid Scarlett."

He nodded briefly. "All right then."

They stood there in silence until she said, "How do you put up with Monday's Noon?"

"You put up or get put down," he grinned. "It is most definitely better than spending life in the Pit."

"You're right there," she sighed as more people began to file in.

"One thing before I leave," Dusk said in a soft, low voice. "You are not here to make a change."

"What?"

"You are here for Mister Monday to tell you what to do and you obey without question. That is the life that will be laid out for you if you choose this path. Do you want this path?"

She nodded. "More than anything. But shouldn't we try and improve people's lives?"

He gave her a sad look. "We should. But we do not."

"Why?"

"Because we don't want to die, Miss Scarlett. Because we don't want him to kill us.

"He'll kill you? You are his Dusk!"

He managed a half-hearted smile. "I can be easily replaced. Now, good luck to you. I honestly hope you become our Dawn."

"Me too," she sighed. She looked at him. "Is there anything that can be done?"

He looked at her for a long time. "I don't know," he finally said, and then disappeared after Noon.

**REVIEW!**


	3. The Prices We Have Paid

**Chapter 3: The Prices We Have Paid**

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**Sorry, by the way. I'm angry because I typed the whole thing up and then accidentally deleted it and I couldn't get it back and ARGH. And I really liked the first version better than this one. I think this one has less feeling. GROAN**

She had been here first.

You'd never know, though. Because when Noon called for all the people applying for Dawn, everybody rushed towards the door like they _wanted _to get stuck like a tin of sardines.

Whenever she thought she would be next, a hundred people would barge in front of her. _I need to do something for these people_, she thought. _They're desperate. They need the money because they're all starving. But, if what Dusk says is true, I can't do anything for them. I can't make any changes at all._

Dusk. He had made this bearable. Whenever the door opened and people would fight to get in, he would stand up to see her and give her a smile and a slight wave. She would smile and wave back, and then more people would join in the fight to get in the door first and he would be blocked from view. And when he had waved for the twentieth time, he turned to pretending to shoot himself in the head, and she'd laugh. And then Noon would glare at her. He was really on edge too-he had cleaved somebody's head off with his sword after she had complained to him about something not being _fair, because how was I supposed to know that I would actually see you in person? _And after he cut her head off, he wiped his sword with his hand and gave her a menacing grin as if to say, _You're next, sweetheart._ Maybe not sweetheart. But something like it, she was sure.

Eventually, after waiting for two hours, she had had enough.

She kicked the person in front of her in the groin and watched her double over in pain. She grabbed the next persons head and crunched hers toward it. The person collapsed, and Astrid willed the stars and dizziness away as she pushed everyone out of her way. When she came to the door leading to Monday and his stupid crew, she threw herself sideways into it and it sprung open and smacked against the wall, causing everyone in the room to jump and look at her.

Monday stared. Noon glared. Dusk looked like he was trying to hold back fits of laughter.

"I believe I was here first. I believe it was my turn about two darned hours ago. If you're not going to let me see you, please tell me that in advance. Now, how about letting me apply for Dawn?"

Monday looked at her for a while before looking back at the current lady in the room. "You're dismissed," he said to her. She huffed but left.

"Miss Scarlett has _spirit_," Noon whispered to Dusk, as if it were something intriguing and rare.

"So why should we employ you?" asked Monday.

"Because..." she said, looking at Dusk. "I... I'm going to follow your orders. I want to follow you and help you. I want to make you greater."

Dusk grinned. _Good job._ Monday looked pleased. Noon's scowl grew deeper.

"All right. You are dismissed for now. Come back tomorrow, early morning."

She left, slightly confused, the fire that had been in her blood reduced to a few embers.

KTTKKTTKKTTKKTTKKTTK

Just as she was about to leave the house the next morning, she heard a knock at the door.

"Coming!" she shouted, running for the door. She opened it to find Dusk, who rushed inside and slammed the door shut.

She stared at him. "What are you doing?"

"I have to tell you. No matter what happens today, _do not intervene. Do. Not. Intervene. _Promise me this."

"All right-" she started, but he had already rushed out the door. She watched through her window as he spread his beautiful, glossy black wings and took off. She watched him until he disappeared from her view, midnight black contrasting with the whitish sky.

She realised she was smiling.

KTTKKTTKKTTKKTTKKTTK

When she arrived, the room was full of candidates. She sighed, but sat on the floor. They waited for a few minutes.

And then Monday came in, holding a man by the neck.

She watched, horrified, as Monday pressed his palm to the man's forehead and the man screamed as his flesh burnt away.

She was about to rush forward and help, but then she remembered Dusk's words.

_Do not intervene._

She recited it in her head like a chant, while everyone else ran towards the man.

_Do not intervene. Do not intervene. Do not intervene._

Eventually, Monday left the man on the floor and stood up. The man was dead. He was bones and charred flesh. You couldn't even tell it was a man.

"Noon?"

Noon glared at her. "_Scarlett_. Of course. I should have known. You are our Dawn." _He wanted to see whether I would back him up or not._

She gave him a polite smile, but her head was swimming and the room was spinning. _Why do I want this?_

_**I know you're reading this. REVIEW.**  
_


	4. Author Note

This story is on temporary hiatus, because a) You haven't given me any sign that you like it and b) I have to work on lots of other stuff. If you give me a review, I will DEFINITELY update. I promise. But if not...

You have been warned, WPPs.


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